<p>NEW YORK — A judge on Friday rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s arguments to toss charges that she recruited three teenager girls from 1994 to 1997 for then-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan denied claims that a non-prosecution agreement Epstein reached with federal prosecutors over a dozen years ago protects Maxwell from prosecution.</p>
<p>She also disagreed that some or all charges <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-york-jeffrey-epstein-indictments-crime-ghislaine-maxwell-1512172107359ed9bca9fecf22135502">should be tossed</a> out for a variety of other perceived flaws.</p>
<p>The judge, however, did agree that Maxwell can be prosecuted separately on perjury charges. And she said arguments the defense will make against <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-york-jeffrey-epstein-indictments-manhattan-conspiracy-dc3644aa9f8d5621f282e70887e3e375">new sex trafficking charges </a> will be decided later.</p>
<p>In a written opinion, Nathan said that the law of contracts and prior precedents meant Manhattan federal prosecutors could charge Maxwell last year, even though a non-prosecution deal Epstein reached with federal prosecutors in Florida in 2007 seemed to protect his employees too.</p>
<p>“Single-district plea agreements are the norm. Nationwide, unlimited agreements are the rare exception,” the judge wrote.</p>
<p>The judge also rejected arguments that the charges had to be dismissed “because of the possibility of missing witnesses, failing memories, or lost records.”</p>
<p>“These are difficulties that arise in any case where there is extended delay in bringing a prosecution, and they do not justify dismissing an indictment,” she said.</p>
<p>She also rejected claims that pretrial publicity spoiled Maxwell’s chance at a fair trial or resulted from accusers who fabricated stories based on media allegations.</p>
<p>“The Court will not dismiss the indictment on Maxwell’s bare assertion that numerous witnesses are engaged in a perjurious conspiracy against her,” she said. “And the Court will take all appropriate steps to ensure that the pretrial publicity in this case does not compromise Maxwell’s right to a fair and impartial jury.”</p>
<p>Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to charges filed against her when she was arrested last July at a New Hampshire estate where prosecutors claim she was hiding from law enforcement but where defense lawyers say she went to spare her family and herself from media attention and threats.</p>
<p>Last month, prosecutors brought a superseding indictment to add sex trafficking charges and extend the alleged conspiracy between Maxwell and Epstein to a decade in length rather than three years in the 1990s. Prosecutors also added a fourth teenage victim to the charges.</p>
<p>The judge’s ruling came a day after a defense lawyer asked to delay a July 12 trial until mid-January, saying the rewritten indictment will require much more around-the-globe investigation that is hampered by the coronavirus pandemic and the busy schedules of defense lawyers.</p>
<p>Epstein took his life in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in a Manhattan federal jail.</p>
<p>Maxwell has repeatedly sought to be freed on bail, but Nathan has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-york-jeffrey-epstein-england-france-ghislaine-maxwell-4d8aa7569833eda0ae9cf3a94120dbcb">rejected the requests.</a> The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments on an appeal of the bail rejections later this month.</p>
